It's Time
by Chezza456
Summary: I was struck, unable to move or speak. It was an appalling sight. Not just the fierce flames licking the crumbling brickwork, but the dense, black smoke lifting from the wreckage. The roaring of the fire drowned out the surrounding sounds; the shrieks of horror and someone's screaming. (Oneshot. Sue's P.O.V. Slightly inspired by Imagine Dragon's song of the same name)


I was struck, unable to move or speak. It was an appalling sight. Not just the fierce flames licking the crumbling brickwork, but the dense, black smoke lifting from the wreckage. The roaring of the fire drowned out the surrounding sounds; the shrieks of horror and someone's screaming.

For a second my mouth lifted into a smirk. It was ironic. Fire, drowning out sound. But the amusement of the phrase didn't last long. The building was creaking and swaying. It was collapsing from the bottom up. The roof cracked and finally caved. I'm sure I heard more screaming. The dust rose up, almost as high as the funnelling smoke before gravity came back into play. Grit showered down around us. I could feel it hitting the top of my head, landing in my hair, the dust sticking to the sweat on my face. The flames spread and jumped; the adjacent buildings were soon engulfed by the destructive burning energy. They also reached forward, close enough for me to hear the crackling as it sucked in the dusty air. The sudden rise in heat dried up the back of my throat and as I tasted the smoke I started to cough. The flames leapt further forward and I found myself having to shield my face with my arms. As the fire caught and singed the sleeve of my jacket I was suddenly wrenched backwards by a hand gripping the back of my top.

"Mei Mei, don't stand so close. You'll get hurt!" He scolded as he pulled me away from the wreckage and into the road. I twisted out of his grip easily and returned my gaze to the inferno, not listening to him. For two reasons: one, It was too late – the stinging sensation in my arm already proved that, and two, we were hardly at the age for him to be telling me what to do any more. He rushed to examine my arm but I batted him away.

"Sue, let me look at it" He insisted, concern in his eyes. I didn't move but just continued to stare. Our livelihood. Our home. Reduced to nothing but a burning heap. I couldn't really hold back any longer so the tears began to drip down my cheeks. Seeing that I was crying, Sid reached for my arm, assuming it was the pain that was making me emotional. Well yes... it was the pain, the psychological pain of seeing everything of our last 20 years being erased from existence. "Sue, let me look – you're obviously hurting..." Once again I twisted out of his grip and batted him away, harder this time. He stared at me in shock. "Sue?"

"Just leave me alone Sid!" I shouted back. My throat was still dry so my voice was croaky. "We're not kids anymore, I don't need you to tell me what to do, I don't need you to check if I'm ok." He stumbled back as I raged at him. He looked upset and I suddenly felt bad. Of course I wasn't the only one distraught that our home was gone. He looked down awkwardly, shifting his feet on the tarmac.

"Sorry" He mumbled. My defences fell and my tears gushed. I rushed to him and hugged him, crying into his shoulder. He hugged me back tightly and I could hear him sniffing back tears of his own. I glanced over his shoulder at Tobey. He was sat on the ground, his head in his hands. His body was trembling. Slowly I pulled away from Sid and stepped over to him. As I knelt next to him I placed a hand on his shoulder. He lifted his head and looked at me, his eyes red and his cheeks tear-stricken. He looked broken. I wrapped my arm round his neck and pulled him into a hug. His arms wrapped around me tighter than Sid's had.

"Things'll be ok, won't they? We'll get through this right?" He questioned. His voice was small and timid; the last time I'd heard him speak like this was in the orphanage. He needed me to reassure him, but this time I couldn't do it. I couldn't even lie to reassure him because, this time, I needed to believe it too. So I said nothing. He didn't ask again. He knew that my silence meant that this time there was no 'ok'. His body shook as heavy sobs escaped his lips. I glanced back at Sid, and he understood my look of concern and came over to us, joining the hug. None of us spoke, just held each other up in this time when we all desperately needed comfort.


End file.
